Hard forks in the Grin network are not spontaneous. They are held according to the previously defined schedule. In the beginning, the developers had been planning to perform four upgrades in the first two years after the launch. Each hard fork is held every 262 080 blocks or approximately every six months. So the third upgrade is scheduled at block 786 240.
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Grin Hard Fork in July 2020
As we have mentioned above, the hard fork will be performed at block 786 240. It is expected to be mined on July 16, 2020, so the network users have only a few days to prepare. Apart from the new name, the developers point out several important changes.
- New mining algorithm. The current algorithm Cuckaroom29 will be replaced with the new Cuckarooz C29. Frequent algorithm switches are also part of the plan. This strategy makes it too costly for ASIC developers to build new devices for the network. Since Cuckarooz C29 is different from Cuckaroom29, old ASICs will become obsolete. That’s how the developers are trying to discourage ASIC manufacturers from building new hardware.
- Code refactoring. The developers will optimize the user interface and retire the first Node API version. They are also working on the server database code.
- Parallel IBD (Initial Block Download). Initial sync and download of blockchain data will become faster.
- More features in the network. The developers will enable new future use cases, such as payment channels.
Getting Ready for the Grin Hard Fork
After the hard fork Grin will switch to version 4.0.1. The new banner on the official website confirms the upcoming upgrade. Under the banner, the developers describe their mission.
Electronic transactions for all. Without censorship or restrictions. Grin is designed for the decades to come, not just tomorrow. Grin wants to be usable by everyone — regardless of borders, culture, skills or access.
Just like other cryptocurrency hard forks, the Grin latest upgrade requires software version 4.0.0 or greater. This includes wallets, miners, and nodes. Hodlers, miners, and other Grin users should update their software. You can download the latest software here. Version 4.0.1 is already available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The developers point out that Grin v4 is a wide upgrade of the cryptocurrency network. However, apart from updating their software, users are not required to do anything. Their coins will not be affected. They will remain on the wallet.
If someone asks you to transfer your cryptocurrency elsewhere, it’s a scam. Ignore such requests and don’t send your coins to other addresses.
What Should Miners Do After the Hard Fork?
Please note that the CuckaroomC29 algorithm will be substituted for Cuckarooz C29.
If you mine CuckatooC32 algorithm there is nothing to worry about. Nothing changes for you.
Grin C29 miners should update their software. Nvidia owners should update Gminer. The miner update for the new Grin algorithm has not been released yet. At the moment, it is impossible to update. As soon as the developers release the software, it will be added to the Quick Start archive by the 2Miners pool. The archive password is 2miners, all letters are lower-case.
We checked the Gminer developers page on GitHub and didn’t find the new update. The latest miner version 2.16 was released recently. The update contains only the Cuckaroo29b algorithm for BitTube.
Cuckarooz C29 for Grin has not been released yet. The software will be released in the next couple of days. We will surely spread the news about the update release through our social media channels. Mining setup for Grin on the 2Miners pool will be available after the miner is released and tested.
Unfortunately, we are not aware if any Cuckarooz C29 miner would be available for AMD. For example lolMiner has refused to work on the update at the moment.
UPD: the new versions of GMiner (2.17) and Bminer (16.2.8) were released.
Here are the right settings for mining Grin with Gminer on 2Miners pool. They are the same, so it’s gonna be an auto-switch.
miner.exe --algo grin29 --server grin.2miners.com --port 3030 --user YOUR_LOGIN.RIG_ID
pause
And for Bminer.
bminer.exe -uri cuckaroo29z://YOUR_LOGIN.RIG_ID:x@grin.2miners.com:3030 -nofee
pause
The developers still have not updated the post about the Grin network upgrade to version 4.0.0. It still says that the details about the new mining algorithm, the upgrade compatibility, and required actions will be specified later.
It means that the upcoming hard fork is just a scheduled upgrade rather than a radical change.
The Grin exchange rate chart in 2020 looks as follows.
To sum up, this week the Grin developers will perform a scheduled hard fork that will protect the network from potential ASIC presence. Even though the details are being released behind time, the network will be upgraded as planned. As a result, the network operation will still be ensured by GPU owners, and cryptocurrency owners will keep using the network.
Join the discussion about the fork in our Telegram crypto chat.
